Alexa-Enabled Vobot Clock is a Personal Sleep Coach, Assistant

LAS VEGAS – Looking to capitalize on the popularity of Amazon Echo and other Alexa-powered devices, Vobot Inc., a California-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) and acoustics, has launched its Vobot Clock at CES 2017.

The Vobot Clock doesn’t have a single button. You need to talk to it, cover it, or flip it to get the Clock to perform various functions. For example, covering the face stops an alarm and flipping it over snoozes the device. And instead of having to manually set an alarm, you can just tell the clock what time you want to wake up.

What else can the Vobot Clock do? Well, a lot of things Amazon Echo can do. With the Alexa functionality, the Vobot Clock can control smart home devices, tell you the latest news and weather and much more. You can also request an Uber, order a pizza, or just have a friendly chat with the Clock.

The built-in 5W speaker offers a variety of warm alarm tones but also provides white noise. The Vobot Clock is promising to help monitor and improve your sleeping habits, too, as your own personal sleep coach.

The company hopes to make Vobot Clock into a full-blown virtual assistant in the future by adding functionality and IFTTT services.

“Vobot means voice plus robot. Our aim is to create AI as well as voice-interactive robots for people’s daily lives,” the company says. “Vobot Clock tries to understand users’ demands through algorithm and cloud computing.”

The Alexa-enabled Vobot Clock will be available for $35 starting in early February 2017.